National Red Bull Flugtag Day is set to take place across the U.S. on Sept. 21 simultaneously in Washington D.C., Long Beach, Miami, Chicago and DFW. The DFW event will take place on the South shore of Lake Carolyn in Las Colinas with gates opening at 11 a.m. and the first flight at 1 p.m.

On the off chance that you are not schooled in what Flugtag is or what the event is all about, Flugtag is German for "flying day" and the insane event features pilots launching their team-powered flying machines off an elevated ramp into the waters below. Teams of five who have constructed homemade, human powered flying machines will have one of their members pilot their creation off the 30-foot high deck, through the air and down into Lake Carolyn.

The teams are judged based on flight distance, creativity and showmanship. The Head Judge is Luke Akins, a professional skydiver who has logged more than 16,000 jumps. Kirby Chambliss, a five-time winner of the U.S. National Aerobatic Championship and one of only two American pilots to win the Red Bull Air Race Championship, is the Distance Judge. Local celebrity judges are former Dallas Stars goalie Marty Turco, Olympian and World Champion decathlete Trey Hardee and former Texas Rangers catcher Ivan 'Pudge' Rodriguez. Veteran vert skateboarder Jimmy Coleman is the Flight Deck Host and Ben Rogers and Jeff 'Skin' Wade from the afternoon-drive Ben and Skin Show on 105.3 The Fan are the Crowd Hosts.

Of the over 350 teams that applied to compete, there are 33 teams that were chosen for the event with the flying machines including a space shuttle, Elvis, a covered wagon, a large duck, a double-decker bus, a flying Pegasus hybrid and an M1 Abrams tank-themed craft. Teams of particular note include Gas Monkey Garage from Discovery Channel's Fast N' Loud, Twin Peaks that will feature three ladies from the popular DFW-based restaurant and the Flying Sherlocks from the owners of Texas-based Sherlock's Baker St. Pub and Grill.

Several facts that will help you know more about the event than your friends: The first Red Bull Flugtag in America took place in 2002 in San Francisco. The record crowd for a U.S Red Bull Flugtag event was over 110,000 in Tampa in 2008 (all-time record was over 250,000 fans in London in 2003). The U.S. record for the farthest flight stands at 207 feet and was set in St. Paul in 2010 by Major Trouble and the Dirty Dixies. This year's event is the first time that multiple cities will hold the event in the same day.

There are four teams that will place with the top three joined by a People's Choice winner. The first place team will get a team outing to skydive with the Red Bull Air Force.

The Red Bull Flugtag is free and open to all ages. Parking is available in the garages throughout the Las Colians Urban Center and it is also possible to ride the DART system directly to the venue. There is also an official after-party featuring live music from the Old 97s at the new Gas Monkey Bar & Grill in Dallas.

We welcome your comments on this story, but please be civil. Do not use profanity, hate speech, threats, personal abuse, images, internet links or any device to draw undue attention. Our policy requires those wishing to post here to use their real identity.